Roddick pays for slipshod approach

Andy Roddick took his first tentative steps on grass at the Samsung Open yesterday and, metaphorically at least, fell flat on his face. Roddick's fractious 7-5, 7-5 loss to Jonas Bjorkman leaves him with precious little practice before Wimbledon and the tournament without its top seed.

"This isn't the ideal preparation going out in the first round and having one grass- court match before Wimbledon, but that's what I have to deal with," said Roddick.

Having been promoted in the American media for years, the 19-year-old is usually the consummate PR man, but it is unlikely he won himself any new fans yesterday. He frequently took his frustration out on the crowd - many of whom had begun the match by cheering for him - snapping at anyone who dared whisper in the cheap seats.

"I think he got out of bed on the wrong side," laughed Bjorkman. "Normally, someone speaking in the highest part of the stands isn't a problem."

Little wonder Roddick was furious with himself. Having left his grass-court preparations so late and opting to play only one event before Wimbledon, he had already left himself little time to get his bearings on grass.

A year ago he reached the semi-finals in Nottingham and the third round at Wimbledon, and the consensus was that he was still a diamond in the rough who was bound to improve quickly. Twelve months on, the rough edges do not appear to be any smoother and his game has not developed quite as quickly as his celebrity.

Roddick, who is seeded No11 at Wimbledon, made the quarter-finals of the US Open last August, but this year his grand slam results - a second-round loss at the Australian Open and a first-round exit at Roland Garros - are hardly inspiring. Add to that a Wimbledon warm-up consisting of two Davis Cup matches on grass in April and yesterday's defeat, and the portents for a good run in SW19 are not good.

Bjorkman, who faces top seed Lleyton Hewitt in the first round at Wimbledon, said: "Maybe today was a sign that the old Swede can still play some good grass-court tennis. I hope he's [Hewitt] thinking it's a tough draw for him, too."

Britain's Arvind Parmar joined Greg Rusedski in the second round with a 6-3, 6-2 win over the fourth seed Jarkko Nieminen. Parmar plays Nicolas Kiefer today. Rusedski will be in second-round action this afternoon against Adrian Voinea.

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